Sarah Jane Takes a Shot
On September 22, 1975 (36 years ago today) a would-be assassin named Sara Jane Moor attempted to shoot President Gerald Ford in San Francisco. It was the second assassination attempt on Ford's life that month. Just 17 days earlier Lynnette "Squeaky" Fromme also tried to assassinate Ford.
Moore was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and had been a nursing school student, a Women's Army Corps recruit, and an accountant. She had been divorced five times. She had developed a deep obsession with Patty Hearst after Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
When the Ford visit to San Francisco was being planned, Moore was among those evaluated by the Secret Service as possible risks, but they concluded that she presented no danger. She had been arrested by police on an illegal handgun charge the day before she tried to shoot Ford, but was released. Police confiscated her .44 caliber pistol and 113 rounds of ammunition.
Moore was about 40 feet away from President Ford, standing in a crowd across the street from the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, when she fired a single shot at him with a different pistol, a .38 caliber revolver. She had bought the gun that same morning and did not know the sights were six inches off. When she fired at Ford, her bullet missed his head by six inches. After realizing she had missed, she raised her arm intending to fire again, but Oliver Sipple, a Marine, dove towards her, knocking her arm. According to police evidence, Moore would have probably killed President Ford if she had her own gun. Sipple grabbed Moore's arm and then pulled her to the ground, using his hand to keep the pistol from firing a second time. In an interview, Sipple said "I saw [her gun] pointed out there and I grabbed for it. I lunged and grabbed the woman's arm and the gun went off." The single shot Moore fired ricocheted off the entrance to the hotel.
Moore pled guilty to attempted assassination and was sentenced to life in prison. At her sentencing hearing Moore stated: "Am I sorry I tried? Yes and no. Yes, because it accomplished little except to throw away the rest of my life. And, no, I'm not sorry I tried, because at the time it seemed a correct expression of my anger."
In 1979, Moore escaped from the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia, but was captured a few hours later. She was transferred to a more secure facility, and she served the remainder of her term at the federal women’s prison in Dublin, California.
In an interview in 2004, Ford described Moore as "off her mind" and said that he continued making public appearances, even after two attempts on his life within such a short time, because "a president has to be aggressive, has to meet the people."
On December 31, 2007, at the age of 77, Moore was released from prison on parole after serving 32 years of her life sentence. Ford had died from natural causes on December 26, 2006. Moore said that she regrets the assassination attempt, saying she was "blinded by her radical political views." She is now under supervised parole.
In another recent interview, Moore stated, "I am very glad I did not succeed. I know now that I was wrong to try." On May 28, 2009, Moore appeared on NBC's Today program, her first television appearance since leaving prison on parole. Discussing her 1979 escape, she said "If I knew that I was going to be captured several hours later, I would have stopped at the local bar to get a drink or at a burger place just to get a drink and a burger."
Here is a Youtube Video about the two assassination attempts on Ford that month,
Moore was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and had been a nursing school student, a Women's Army Corps recruit, and an accountant. She had been divorced five times. She had developed a deep obsession with Patty Hearst after Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
When the Ford visit to San Francisco was being planned, Moore was among those evaluated by the Secret Service as possible risks, but they concluded that she presented no danger. She had been arrested by police on an illegal handgun charge the day before she tried to shoot Ford, but was released. Police confiscated her .44 caliber pistol and 113 rounds of ammunition.
Moore was about 40 feet away from President Ford, standing in a crowd across the street from the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, when she fired a single shot at him with a different pistol, a .38 caliber revolver. She had bought the gun that same morning and did not know the sights were six inches off. When she fired at Ford, her bullet missed his head by six inches. After realizing she had missed, she raised her arm intending to fire again, but Oliver Sipple, a Marine, dove towards her, knocking her arm. According to police evidence, Moore would have probably killed President Ford if she had her own gun. Sipple grabbed Moore's arm and then pulled her to the ground, using his hand to keep the pistol from firing a second time. In an interview, Sipple said "I saw [her gun] pointed out there and I grabbed for it. I lunged and grabbed the woman's arm and the gun went off." The single shot Moore fired ricocheted off the entrance to the hotel.
Moore pled guilty to attempted assassination and was sentenced to life in prison. At her sentencing hearing Moore stated: "Am I sorry I tried? Yes and no. Yes, because it accomplished little except to throw away the rest of my life. And, no, I'm not sorry I tried, because at the time it seemed a correct expression of my anger."
In 1979, Moore escaped from the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia, but was captured a few hours later. She was transferred to a more secure facility, and she served the remainder of her term at the federal women’s prison in Dublin, California.
In an interview in 2004, Ford described Moore as "off her mind" and said that he continued making public appearances, even after two attempts on his life within such a short time, because "a president has to be aggressive, has to meet the people."
On December 31, 2007, at the age of 77, Moore was released from prison on parole after serving 32 years of her life sentence. Ford had died from natural causes on December 26, 2006. Moore said that she regrets the assassination attempt, saying she was "blinded by her radical political views." She is now under supervised parole.
In another recent interview, Moore stated, "I am very glad I did not succeed. I know now that I was wrong to try." On May 28, 2009, Moore appeared on NBC's Today program, her first television appearance since leaving prison on parole. Discussing her 1979 escape, she said "If I knew that I was going to be captured several hours later, I would have stopped at the local bar to get a drink or at a burger place just to get a drink and a burger."
Here is a Youtube Video about the two assassination attempts on Ford that month,